Falcons start season in spectacular style

April 11, 2013

A double header split with a former archrival has given the Fitch baseball team a 3-1 start to the 2013 season.

Fitch's boys beat Boardman, 4-2 in the first half of the twin bill played April 6 on the road. The Spartans then snapped the Falcons' three-game opening season win streak with a 6-4 game two victory.

Kevin Sierra and Scott Pierce each picked up doubles for the Falcons setting the pace on offense against Boardman. Sierra also scored a run. Noah Suchora got the start in the front end of the double dip and did in the Spartans with some super pitching.

While Suchora's hurling was certainly heroic on Saturday what Austin Cooper did for the Falcons in the season opener on April 4 certainly set the standard for all Fitch pitchers in 2013. Cooper caught Lakeview looking at a wide array of pitches over seven innings as he tossed a complete game no-hitter. Thanks to Cooper's crippling of the Lakeview hitters, Fitch coasted to a 9-0 victory.

Cooper befuddled all 21 Bulldogs he faced and recorded six strikeouts. Pierce picked up the biggest hit of the game for the Falcons with a double and he had three RBI's. Sierra and Shane Vitullo also banged two-baggers.

Fitch's offense stayed hot in its home opener one day later even though the early April weather was rather chilly. The Falcons soared past visiting Warren Harding, 14-3 last Friday.

After an opening inning triple by Sierra helped set up Fitch's first run of the contest, a six-run second stanza put a halt to any of Harding's chances. Zarek Bell started the second with a single then stole a pair of bases. He would score on an RBI groundout off the bat of Tony Adams. With two outs in the inning, the real fun for the Falcons began. Kevin Miller had an RBI single, Vitullo had an RBI double then Pierce stayed nearly perfect during the opening week with a two-run hit. Zach Miller would make it a 7-0 lead when he mashed an RBI double. Miller, Fitch's fantastic RBI machine in the middle of the order, would add two more run scoring hits later in the ballgame.

With the offense in full swing, Fitch starter Trent Collins was able to relax on the hill and work four easy innings to earn the win.

So if you threw out the nightcap with Boardman last Saturday, the Falcons had a very successful first stretch of games. The offense was able to average almost eight runs per outing and the pitching has been steady in most of the matches and spectacular in Cooper's gem.

Coach Wally Ford's club will need to keep that combination of hitting and pitching going this week because conference play will be commencing. A home-in-home series with Poland was played Monday and Tuesday. A showdown with Niles is also scheduled for Thursday before the Falcons fly back out of the All American Conference to play Cardinal Mooney and West Branch.